Under Clear Skies Chapter 84: Nonsense

Chapter 84: Nonsense

Translated by Fefe of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

 

On the third day of being locked up by Fu Liling, Tang Heng discovered with anxious irritation that even the rain had stopped.

Fu Liling had confiscated his phone. Even when Tang Heng used his company and work schedule as an excuse, Fu Liling was still unmoved. Clearly, she was for real this time. Tang Heng had not had any contact with the outside world for three days now. In extreme boredom, he could only lay on the sofa and switch between novels and the TV. He even thought about climbing out the window—he was on the sixth floor, but there seemed to be a plausible method: he could tie his bedsheet to the leg of his bed and climb out of his bedroom window. The length of four bedsheets tied together should be enough for him to land on the open balcony on the third floor. Then he would jump from there to the rain shelter on the second floor and finally, land on the grass below.

However, this was too risky—if he slipped, he’d get some broken bones. Then, instead of finding Li Yuechi, Fu Liling would take him directly to the hospital and it’d be even more impossible to escape.

Tang Heng felt like he was going crazy. If Fu Liling didn’t let him free, his last bit of sanity would disappear too. By then, he might really climb out the window, or find a hammer and destroy the lock that Fu Liling put on the door. He didn’t know if there was a hammer in his house though.

Tang Heng considered these messy thoughts while eating a silent lunch with Fu Liling. Then he lay in bed and gazed at the sky outside the window. Gradually, he dozed off. When he woke up again, he heard Fu Liling calling someone on the balcony. Soon, Fu Liling walked into Tang Heng’s bedroom. Her face was ghostly pale and even her lips were trembling.

Tang Heng thought anxiously, could it be that Li Yuechi called Fu Liling? And Fu Liling was… pissed?

“Xiao Heng, d-do you, do you know a student…”

“Which?”

“A girl surnamed Tian.”   

“Yeah.” Fu Liling already knew, so Tang Heng said boldly, “She’s in the same class as Li Yuechi. What’s wrong?”

Fu Liling didn’t answer. Tang Heng saw her grip the phone, hard enough that her fingertips turned white.

“Mom.” Tang Heng got up. “What’s wrong?”

“That girl—”

 

There was a sudden knock on the door. Fu Liling flinched. Then she walked to the door and asked, “Who is it?”

“Food delivery.”

“Wrong place. We didn’t order food delivery.”

“Hm?” The man outside the door paused. “Is it Mr. Tang Guomu?”

Fu Liling’s brows furrowed as if she was hesitating. A few seconds later, she said, “Wait a moment.”

Tang Heng walked out of the bedroom. “Don’t run around!” Fu Liling barked.

“I won’t,” Tang Heng said.

Fu Liling pulled out her key, opened the look, and twisted open the doorknob. That instant, Tang Heng felt his heart leaping into his throat—he hadn’t heard incorrectly. How could he hear incorrectly? It was Li Yuechi’s voice.

Fu Liling was stunned. “You coming?” Li Yuechi asked quickly.

“Mom!” Tang Heng had never moved so quickly in his life. “I’m sorry! Don’t be mad!”

Tang Heng and Li Yuechi flew down the stairs, leaving Fu Liling’s screams behind. There was a bike stopped outside the building. It wasn’t Tang Heng’s fancy bike. It was a regular bike that had a seat for a second person. Tang Heng didn’t know where Li Yuechi got it from and there was no time to ask. Li Yuechi slung his long leg across and held the handles with both hands. Tang Heng hurried onto the backseat.

Li Yuechi must have pumped the wheels with air beforehand. The bike carried them forward, streaking under the warm afternoon sun. At first, Li Yuechi pedaled like crazy. When Tang Heng was sure that Fu Liling wasn’t chasing after them, he finally slowed down.

“So fucking intense,” Tang Heng gasped out. “Does this count as eloping?”

He hadn’t seen Li Yuechi in three days. At this moment, he couldn’t help but reach out and hug Li Yuechi’s waist. Li Yuechi had his back to Tang Heng. “It counts,” he said while pedaling. “I wanted to do this long ago.”

“I couldn’t tell before. Xuezhang, you’re pretty wild.”

“I wanted to buy a scooter like the one my roommate has, so we can go places conveniently and you won’t get carsick.” Li Yuechi chuckled. “But it’s kinda expensive, so I bought a bike first.”

“It’s the same.” Tang Heng pressed his cheek against Li Yuechi’s taut back. “Just ride slower.”

 

Like this, Li Yuechi took Tang Heng to their rented apartment. Tang Heng hadn’t eaten enough for lunch and was a bit hungry, but he definitely didn’t care about eating now.

The two hurried up the stairs, opened the door, and fell into an embrace and kiss. Li Yuechi was abnormally impatient. Usually, when he pressed Tang Heng against the wall for a kiss, he would cushion the back of Tang Heng’s head with his hand, but he didn’t have time for that now. He just swept his tongue through Tang Heng’s mouth, not letting any corner go untouched. The back of Tang Heng’s head hurt a little.

They kissed like this for a long, long time and Tang Heng really couldn’t take it anymore. He turned his face to his side with a huff. Li Yuechi hugged him tightly and buried his face in Tang Heng’s long hair.

Their chests rose up and down. Tang Heng’s lips had gone numb.

“Xuezhang,” Tang Heng teased, “you’re this hungry after three days?”

“I really missed you,” Li Yuechi said, not answering the question.

“Oh,” Tang Heng whispered. “Me too.”

Li Yuechi loosened the hug and took half a step back. When they met each other’s eyes, Tang Heng was taken aback.

Li Yuechi seemed to have lost weight and his dark circles were heavy, but he was cleanly shaven. Tang Heng couldn’t help but reach out and touch his face. “What’s wrong? You stayed up late?”

“Couldn’t fall asleep.”   

“Why not?”

“Because I missed you.”

“…”

Li Yuechi grasped Tang Heng’s hand. “Your mom didn’t hit you, right?”   

“It’s not that extreme, but she did confiscate my phone…” Tang Heng kissed the corner of Li Yuechi’s lips. “Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

“I did.”

“Huh?”

“Two nights ago.” Li Yuechi paused. “I was outside the door. I heard you and your mom’s argument.”

“You—you heard everything?”

Li Yuechi nodded.       

Tang Heng’s first reaction was, fuck. He couldn’t remember clearly what they’d argued about, but it was definite that Fu Liling had accused Li Yuechi of many things. For example, he remembered Fu Liling suspecting the relationship between Li Yuechi and Tian Xiaoqin…

“Tang Heng, do you trust me?” Li Yuechi suddenly asked.

“…Yes.”

“For how long?”

Was he scared because of Fu Liling’s words?

Smiling, Tang Heng said, “Ten thousand years.”

Li Yuechi smiled too. It was the smile that Tang Heng was very familiar with—the smile flowed from the corners of his eyes to his lips. It was so gentle with a tinge of helplessness, like he didn’t know what to do with Tang Heng. Li Yuechi had this kind of smile when Tang Heng was crowded by girls at the live house, when he said drunkenly that he wanted to marry Li Yuechi in the US. He’d seen it too many times before.

Li Yuechi scooted over and kissed Tang Heng’s ears delicately. “I wanna do it,” he murmured.

He was extraordinary direct today. Tang Heng couldn’t handle it.

Li Yuechi wasn’t moving roughly, but it was different from before. In a daze, Tang Heng thought, He’s so strong today. Every action was filled with the intent to invade him. It wasn’t that gentle and even hurt a little. Li Yuechi bit Tang Heng’s shoulder. “Tang Heng,” he murmured.

“Mn…” Tang Heng hissed. He furrowed his brows, cheeks flushed. “Slow down.”       

“Look at me.”

And so, Tang Heng gazed into Li Yuechi’s eyes. They were too close. He could even see his small figure reflected in Li Yuechi’s dark pupils. Beads of sweat rolled down Li Yuechi’s cheeks, finally dripping off from his chin and landing on Tang Heng’s heaving chest.

Li Yuechi gazed at Tang Heng too, staring straight forward as if lost in him.

“Li Yuechi, you, you—slow down!” Tang Heng groaned, knitting his brows.

Li Yuechi didn’t reply.

 

Finally, one round ended and Li Yuechi pulled away. He sprawled atop Tang Heng. Both of them were covered in sweat, but they couldn’t tell whose sweat it was. Li Yuechi held Tang Heng tightly and kissed his sweat-drenched fringe.

Tang Heng felt like Li Yuechi was abnormally direct and clingy today. Maybe Fu Liling had scared him?

“Tang Heng…” Li Yuechi’s voice was muffled. “You still want to study abroad, right?”

Tang Heng stiffened. He suddenly recalled the argument that night. Fu Liling had exposed him for giving up on studying abroad for Li Yuechi.

“That night… You heard it.”

“Yes.”

“Can we not talk about this?” Tang Heng was suddenly terrified. “My current company is pretty good.”

Li Yuechi pushed himself up halfway and looked at him. “Why can’t we talk about it?”

“I’ve already made the decision.”

“If you really want to study abroad, you can—”

“Li Yuechi,” Tang Heng cut him off. “Do you think I’m really over-the-top?”

Li Yuechi slowly blinked. “Why?”

“I’m really scared. I’m scared that if I go abroad, we’ll be over. I’m not suspecting you. I—ah, I don’t know how to put it. Maybe I’m just unable to convince myself.” Tang Heng lowered his eyes and said hesitatingly, “Do you think I’m too stubborn? I didn’t want you to know. Oh, I didn’t dare to let you know.”

Li Yuechi lay back down on Tang Heng’s body. His warm and moist cheeks pressed against Tang Heng’s shoulder. He was silent and Tang Heng waited in breathless fear.

A moment later, Li Yuechi whispered, “That night, I was thinking, is this the ‘free’ you said?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t have anything and I don’t have to do anything, but I can somehow be with you… You sacrifice this and that for me, while I only have to stand in place and wait.”

“…”

“Do you remember how I said everything has a cost?” Li Yuechi mumbled. “The cost of my getting into university was Zhao-laoshi, the cost of graduating was working every day. I’d wanted to get a job as soon as I graduated, but my dad said his health was okay and I should continue studying if I could. So I started to do grad school and the cost is still to work part-time… Just like how you have to pay to buy a box of noodles, I need to pay a price to get anything.”

“I… I don’t need it.”

“Yes,” Li Yuechi said. “You don’t, which is why I often wonder how I could meet you. You’re different from all of them. The first time I met you, you were singing outside Long Love that night, surrounded by lights. It was like a dream.”

Tang Heng froze. His heart was racing again. He couldn’t help but ask, “Are you drunk?”

“No.” Li Yuechi gave him a gentle smile. “I just wanted to speak nonsense.”